Tesco launches online movie download service

Tesco, Great Brittain’s largest retailer with an annual turnover of over two billion pounds, has announced to expand its digital download store to include movies and TV-shows. The store will feature content from Warner Bros. and Sony. Among the first releases are Spiderman 3 and Superbad. Prices will start at 1.87 pounds for TV-shows and 10.97 pounds for new release movies. Tesco also plans to add a movie rental service in the coming months.

The service will compete with Apple’s iTunes, which is currently the biggest online download service in the UK. But according to Screen Digest analyst Sarah Johnson, Tesco might have a tough time to compete with iTunes, due to the fact that Tesco does not have a dedicated device strategy. Whilst services such as iTunes and Xbox Live Video Marketplace are closely bound to popular digital devices (i.e., the Mac, iPod and Xbox360) which spur adoption, Tesco has to find other ways to draw customers to its webstore.